Re: AT&T Digital Life

Just had the system installed in my home yesterday. They have a lot of work to do to make this system the system of choice. The two installers were in my home for 10 hours yesterday. They spent a lot of time sending text messages to someone who was walking them through the installation. 10 hours? Yes.

The system does seem to work as advertised, but there are a couple of things that would have given me pause about signing up had I known about them. First, and most important to my wife and me, is that the "chirping" sound from the keypads when a door or window is opened is so quiet that you can barely hear it, even if standing next to the keypad. The installers told me that this is a known issue and there's some sort of fix coming for the problem. The other thing is that the wireless system is fairly slow. Our previous system, which was hard-wired, would instantly sound an alert (that was easily heard all over the house) when a door or window was opened. There is a bit of a delay with this system, and as mentioned above, you can't hear the alert in most places in the house.

The video cameras are very slow - seriously slow. If you are trying to adjust the view over your pc or wireless device, it takes about 15 seconds for the camera view to change when you click or tap the directional arrow. The picture quality is pretty good - no complaint there.

The electricians who installed the video cameras and "smart" switches were very fast and very polite, but it seems they reinstalled the light switch upside down when installing the smart thingy. It does work. There were four people at our home for a period of time yesterday - the installers and two electricians. Oh yeah, the ATT guys' supervisor also showed up and they spent about 30 minutes talking with him. They spent a lot of time laughing about who knows what, while I had taken the day off from work to sit around for 10 hours.

Anyway, I should know better than to be an early adopter of a new ATT offering. I was one of the first U-Verse subscribers in my neighborhood several years ago and we had many, many problems. We were also sold a bill of goods about when various new features would become available.

I think ATT will be very successful with this offering if they can get their act together. I was a long-time ADT customer and was never really happy with their service, so when I had all the windows in my home replaced a couple of weeks ago, I decided to replace the security system as well. By the way, my upfront expense for all the equipment for the Digital Life system was over $1500. ADT was going to charge about the same amount to install their latest and greatest system and their contract was for three years. ATT's deal is for two years. I'll report back after we've had a chance to live with the system for a while.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

Looks like ATT has to fix the fix they tried to use to fix the problem of poor alert volume from keypads when a door or window is opened. Now they say it will be fixed by the end of August. Here's the text from an email I received from one of their support people today:

Valued Digital Life Customer,

You may remember that you expressed an interest in increasing the volume of the chirp for your Digital Life system when one of your doors or windows is opened. We were eager to address this concern for you and created a program to adjust the sounds of your system. We have since discovered that this change to the sounds may override your local siren alarm capabilities when your system is armed. We will temporarily discontinue this program. We will resolve the issue and reactivate it by the end of August. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions about this or anything else related to your Digital Life service, please call us at 1-855-288-2727, option 4.

Regards,

AT&T Digital Life

I spoke to three different people at ATT Digital Life support yesterday and not one of them knew about this. I called today because they never called back with a solution as promised, and the support person forwarded the above to me. This is a known issue and they don't tell you about it until the system is fully installed and they have charged your credit card ($1500 in my case). I'll wait till the end of August and if the problem is not fixed, I tell them to remove the system and give my money back. If they would have told us about this known issue, I never would have installed the system. We don't have small kids at home, but for someone with kids and a swimming pool, it's helpful to know when someone opens a door. If you aren't standing next to one of the keypads when a door or window is opened, you simply can't hear the faint beeps it emits. So if you are at home and your system is not armed, someone could open a door and you would not know it till they walked in on you. Or one of your kids could open the door and walk out and you would not know the door was opened unless you happened to be watching.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

Despite industry-established home automation and monitoring system from Frontline Security requiring NO UPFRONT equipment cost, I invested some $600.00 of my hard-earned money on equipment from AT&T Digital Life, when I gave up my 13-year ADT home security monitoring and thought I was upgrading to home automation and monitoring equipped with surveillance cameras. My AT&T Digital Life system was installed on or about July 26, 2013, then a couple of days later I took my family for short visit to Washington DC, where I noticed (access to) the cameras were not working. Upon returning home, I called AT&T Digital Life and went through the regular channel to obtain service. Two (2) visits later from AT&T technicians and several calls, the problem STILL EXISTS TO THIS DAY. In fairness to Messrs. Jason S (Manager, Vendor Management Services - Digital Life Field Operations) and Dan M (Field Supervisor), these gentlemen were initially responsive. However, they have since stopped being responsive or picking up their phones. Mr. M eventually informed me on the phone that it is a system problem with AT&T and that they are doing their best to fix it. Well, that was two (2) weeks ago and today, my AT&T Digital Life system (surveillance cameras in particular) is not working. By the way, AT&T Digital Life has been consistent in sending the monthly bill and I continue to pay your statement in full.

It has been seven weeks (49 days) since my AT&T Digital Life system was installed and STILL it is not working properly. NO WORD FROM AT&T DIGITAL LIFE ON WHEN I WILL FINALLY HAVE ACCESS TO LIVE FEED FROM MY SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS. :-(

Re: AT&T Digital Life

Here's my follow-up to my post of 7-26-2013. My problem with this system is the "chirp" from the keypads is so low in volume that you can't hear it unless you're standing right next to it. ATT claimed they would have this problem fixed by the end of August. Well, here we are two-thirds of the way through September and there is no such fix and according to the conversations I've had with their support people, they have no idea when, or if, it will be fixed. This may not be a big deal for some people, but we want to know if a door or window is opened, whether the system is armed or not. We were not told about this known issue until the system was fully installed. I never would have ordered the system had I been informed about this issue, for which they have had many complaints. I believe this is a deceptive trade practice and unless they can fix it very soon, I want it removed and ALL my money back ($1500). The person I spoke to today told me that I have a two-year contract so I will have to buy my way out of the deal. I reported this problem within the 30-day trial period and was told it would be fixed by the end of August, so I waited, to no avail. Since I'm not the bashful type, I will report this to the FTC and the Attorney General's office in Texas. They have no business installing these systems without notifying the customer of the "known issue" beforehand.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

ATT sent me an email asking if I would like to host a house party for them to promote their Digital Life system. Really? We paid $1500 to install the ATT Digital Life security system in our home. They did not bother to tell us about the "known problem" of the extremely low volume of the "chirp" from the keypads when a door or window is opened. You can't hear the signal unless you're standing right next to a keypad when a sensor is tripped (whether the system is armed or unarmed). This means that you wouldn't know that Jack the Ripper was in your house till he slit your throat. Also, if you have small children you probably want to know if they have opened the back door that leads to the swimming pool. If you happen to be right next to one of the keypads, you might hear the chirp, otherwise, good luck. I would not have purchased this system if they had disclosed this known problem before the system was fully installed. When I called their support people very soon after installation (July), I was told they were very aware of the issue and it would be fixed by the end of August. I should have known better than to trust an assertion like that from ATT after the misleading information we got from them when we installed U-Verse several years ago. So, I agreed to wait till the end of August for the fix. Never happened. Here we are in October and they can't tell me when or if it will be fixed. Meanwhile, I'm past my 30-day trial period and they tell me I'm stuck with the system or I can buy my way out of it. Had they been honest with me and told me the truth, that they can't (or won't) fix the problem, I would have had it yanked out of my house within the 30-day period. All I get from them is double-talk and I'm obviously not happy about it. When I saw the invitation to host a house party promoting their product, I had to laugh. I don't think they would be happy with the result. Between U-Verse, wireless + data plans, home phone and this Digital Life disaster, I'm paying ATT over $600 a month and can't get anyone to call me back about this problem. Wanna come to a party at my house? I'll demonstrate the system for you...

Re: AT&T Digital Life

I received an email from ATT today telling me that they tried to call me about this issue (as described above) and left a number to call them back. They said that since I did not call them back, they consider the issue resolved. Here's my response:

Sorry - No one from ATT has attempted to call me. If they did, they did NOT leave a message. The issue is NOT resolved. Why do I continue to get the run-around from ATT? I've been trying to get this issue resolved since July, and NOTHING has been done by ATT to fix this "known problem". I'm really getting tired of being put off or lied to about this. Since you continue to ignore this problem I want the system removed from my home immediately and I want a full refund of the amount I paid to have it installed. Please have someone in a supervisory position contact me immediately.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

I also have the Digital Life system and find that the chirp for the keypad is in all practically useless. Extremely low volume. I notified the customer care center and they built a program to use the siren for the chirp but it's not much of an improvement. Still low volume. Not sure what else can be done with it. This is my only negative complaint so far but it is only two weeks old. BTW I am a AT&T employee. The installer did tell me that they were working on replaceing the keypad with a new model, possibly a touchscreen. He was not an employee though but a contractor, so I will believe it when i see it and not until then.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

I had my system installed this week. I am a long time ADT customer, but was dissatified with their service and the fact that they raised my rates in the middle of my contract.

So far I'm pleased with the system itself. There were a few problems with the installation..mostly techs that just don't really know the software side of the system yet or how things work together. When I asked how to put in codes for different people from the front door lock, they told me you do it on the website. That is not through user profiles. That was not true....you can enter user's alarm codes there, but not their front door locks. One of my techs finally called someone and then passed on how it is done on the lock itself. I later learned how to do it much easier on my own through the device on the app. My techs didn't walk me through all the new hardware and I'm still finding surprises and they didn't go over the software at all. There is plenty of room for improvement there.

But...having said that...overall, it was a big job and with the exception of one light switch, everything is working well. They were very knowledgable as far as the hardware goes. And the few questions I have been unable to figure out, I've called their call center and had excellent support.

The upfront costs are hefty, but overall I think it's going to be well worth it and I think ATT is going to do a good job providing the service once they get some of the initial kinks worked out. I have hopes for improvement in the sofware. First, I'd like to see the app work with other apps like IFTTT. In that way, I could say, turn my porch light on every night at sunset by getting the time of sunset from a weather app. I'd also really like to see better options in the programs part. First, one frustration is that you can't trigger on and/or situations. Right now, I can say turn off the alarm when this code is entered on the front door lock, but I can't say, If this code is entered in the front door lock or this other code is entered, do these things. It would cut down on the amount of programs that have to be done that basically repeat the same patterns. The other problem is that I cannot figure out how to set up a program that I ONLY want to run on demand. The only option is to set it for a schedule or to trigger based upon one of the devices. My "Go to Bed" program (which does multiple things), doesn't fit on a schedule because I don't always go upstairs to bed at the same time every night and there is no device trigger for it. I basically ended up having to set it to run in the middle of the night. That way I run it on demand when I go to bed and then it runs again harmlessly in the middle of the night. These are the types of things that I hope they will listen to customers on and make improvements to the overall system.

Overall, I'm pleased and I think I'll be enjoying this system for years to come.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

Thanks for providing this feedback. I'm having Digital Life installed tomorrow and I'm actually really excited. My total system cost $1,900.47. I don't know what the poster up top was saying that ADT was roughly the same price. No way Jose! Not even close. ADT Pulse was going to charge me $3,100 and Frontpoint $2,400 for the same equipment. Trust me, I did the math. The main reasons for the cost variance is installation costs (AT&T is free), camera costs (subsidized under AT&T and also free installation with AT&T), and door lock costs. By the way, I'm an ADT non-Pulse customer for 3 years.

It is unfortunate to hear about several things:1) insignificant chirp sound (this was great with ADT)2) limited trigger-on scenarios3) limited program functions

we'll, given the issues with the chirp guy above and AT&T's horrid customer service to address his needs, I will make sure to cancel my service within 30 days if things are not working as expected. i know the B*S* that these companies put customers through and I won't put up with it. Especially with over $2,000 upfront costs and a 2-year $1,440 contract ($60 month)

AT&T, if you're listening, I'm the guy in Santa Clara you're going to install a system tomorrow on November 5th. You better get it right or I'm going back to ADT Pulse.

Re: AT&T Digital Life

Hello, jbeezely!

I'm glad to hear you're looking forward to your Digital Life installation. We always appreciate customer feedback about new products and services, so please don't hesitate to shoot us a message with your input by clicking here.

The more feedback we get from customers, the more we can make necessary improvements. I hope Digital Life works out for you!